Clarke puts stunning West Brom success story down to squad rotation

West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Clarke has put his side’s success down to the way his players have taken to his rotation system.

The Baggies are up to third in the Premier League but Clarke is trying to keep his players grounded.

'I’m mildly happy,’ he said with half a smile after his side's win over Sunderland.

Party time: West Brom climbed to third with their win over Sunderland

Boaz Myhill narrowly survived three scares before goals from Zoltan Gera, Shane Long, Romelu Lukaku and Marc-Antoine Fortune scored to give West Brom their fourth successive top flight win for the first time since 1982.

Goals from Craig Gardner and Stephane Sessegnon gave Sunderland brief hope, and a rally, but the visitors were good value for their win.

Clarke said: 'I said at the start I was happy with the squad and only thing I said to them was they should be comfortable in the Premier League after two seasons finishing mid-table. The only way to build on that is with better performances and we have.

'I just try to use the squad the best I can to get the best out of them. They have bought into what I am trying to do and that is really important.

Main man: Shane Long continued his fine form with a goal on Saturday

'The game now is not about 11 players now, it is about your squad. The stronger your squad, the more chance you have of winning games in the Premier League. I turn round, look at the bench and want to make changes. I am always really happy with what I see.

'I am never satisfied. If we get to our target of 50 points in March, I will go for another target. But the philosophy we have and the way we have worked is to build game to game and we look no further.’

And while Clarke may have praise for the collective effort from all his players, he rightly singled out Long and Gera for their contribution to an impressive away win, which made up for the undeserved defeat at Newcastle earlier in the month.

In charge: Steve Clarke

He added: 'Zoltan has been terrific all season. He had a career-threatening injury, it took him a long time to get over it and we nursed him through it to protect him.

He is at the stage of his career where you can’t play him in every game because that would be detrimental to him. He accepts that fact and you see the quality of the guy’s performances. He is always for me one of the better players.

'I speak about Shane every week, whether he plays 70 or 60 minutes or comes on for 20. I have run out for superlatives for him, he has been tremendous every week.

'But he also has Lukaku sitting on his tail which keeps him lively. As well as Marc-Antoine and Marcus Rosenborg, who didn’t get on the pitch, we have Peter Odemwingie who has found another level. So there is great competition for the front places and Shane is a big part of that.’